Culinary Conversations

[worth1]

I tried to find videos on frying Monterey Jack cheese and couldn't find anything much less with cheese curds in the mix.
Hardly anything on frying the cheese after it was frozen.
Tried to find a comprehensive video on the CurderBurger and that was a total failure to say the very least.
It was almost unanimous these people had no idea about cheese food or cooking.

What's the deal with all these people posting videos on YouTube sitting in their car eating and reviewing fast food and sticking their ugly mugs and food in your face?
There were some families reviewing it in the restaurant and many of them had a serious weight problem.
Even the young ones.
I actually got so disgusted that I lost my appetite and couldn't eat anything.
Thus the reason I didn't make the burger yesterday.

[Danny]

I tried to find videos on frying Monterey Jack cheese and couldn't find anything much less with cheese curds in the mix.
Hardly anything on frying the cheese after it was frozen.
Tried to find a comprehensive video on the CurderBurger and that was a total failure to say the very least.
It was almost unanimous these people had no idea about cheese food or cooking.

What's the deal with all these people posting videos on YouTube sitting in their car eating and reviewing fast food and sticking their ugly mugs and food in your face?
There were some families reviewing it in the restaurant and many of them had a serious weight problem.
Even the young ones.
I actually got so disgusted that I lost my appetite and couldn't eat anything.
Thus the reason I didn't make the burger yesterday.

It's a simple thing, don't watch those videos, worth, if you don't like them. Why waste time if it offends you?

Wouldn't frying monterey jack cheese be about the same as frying most other semi firm cheeses? Or am I missing something particular to jack cheese ( I am not super into cheeses other than eating some of them, LOL, so not too experienced)?

[worth1]

Well I gotta look at the thing before I know I don't want to watch it.
I don't know what I'm looking at until I see it.
I can't count how many movies I've stopped watching before I watched it all.
But I don't know until I try to watch it
It doesn't offend me at all I just don't want to watch it.

As for cheese you have to know your cheese.
There's a Mexican frying cheese you can put in a skillet and get a crust on it without it melting.
Others melt beautifully.
There's a whole science when it comes to cooking with cheese.
One friend said he messed his cheese up and I asked what he did.
He put wine in it and it curdled.
The acid did it.
If you're not into cheese then it's not relevant but it is to me.
Have I explained myself enough or do I need to go on.
Or do I need to explain myself at all.
Not likely in this case.

[Sue_CT]

I have been ordering my olive oil directly from a grove and olive oil presser/manufacturer in California for quite a few years. It is really delicious. Not only is the varietal olive oil great and can't be beat for dipping, they have wonderful flavored oils. I mostly use their "extreme garlic", lemon, and mederterranian oils. The brand is Sciabica, they have been growing and pressing olives for 80 years and they have won several awards. I don't use their oil for general cooking, I use it when I want to actually taste the olive oil and use the olive oil to add flavor to something. I particularly like to use it to brush on pizza crust or toast a burrito. Their website is sunshineinabottle.com in case anyone is interested in trying some. Shipping is reasonable and if you like it they have sales a few times a year, next is usually around black friday in November. You won't get anything but 100% oil from olives in their stuff. For the most intense flavor try the Manzillo. It is sold out now but new presses of this fall harvested olives will be coming out between now and January. Oct-Jan is when the fresh new olive oil is pressed in California. This grove even tells you the year of the olive oil you are buying so you know if you are getting the newest press or the 2022 press, for example. I don't work for them or get any kickbacks, lol, but I justed looked at my order history and I have bought over 1500.00 worth of olive oil from them in the last almost 15 years, since 2009.

[peebee]

@Sue_CT thanks for the tip on the olive oil. I'm always on the lookout for 100% CA olive oil & will definitely try a couple out. Shipping is reasonable, $5 for an order, so I'll try 2 when the new pressings come out. The $5 is esp good if you live far away from CA, where I live.

[worth1]

I remember when olive oil was relatively cheap back in the 80's when we first started buying it.
Then the olive oil fad took over and the price shot to the moon.
It was all those darn celebrity chefs on cable TV.
But if I look at my hourly wage it has basically kept up with it.
But not the hourly wage of everyone.

[bower]

Well the price of olive oil is high and is set to get worse, because Spain is the largest producer and climate change is hitting them hard.
Still it is the last thing I would give up for any reason. If you look at your overall budget, it's not such a big deal and worth it for the food value on a per meal basis.

[worth1]

Plus it's not hard to make herb or garlic infused olive oil.
And there's no reason to buy high test olive oil to do it.
It's a simple process of slightly heating the oil to get the automatics from the herbs or garlic without actually cooking or burning the subject or changing the flavors.
It's basic chemistry and fun.

[Sue_CT]

They are known for flavored olive oils that are not heated or cooked at all. The fresh ingredient is added to the olives at pressing time. Such as fresh limes, lemons, habanero or jalapeno peppers, etc. It is supposed to give a fresher flavor of the item to the oil. I have had bad flavored oils, or maybe I just thought they were bad because I was used to these, and there is no comparison. Of course, I have never made my own, I was under the impression that you could not keep it very long because cooking it long enough to destroy something like botulism, which is very difficult to do at home, would destry the flavor. I don't really know though, since they obviously do it. Their flavored oils are usually good for at least a year if stored correctly, although they encourage people to buy less and buy it more fequently so that they get the freshest olive oil.

[worth1]

I think it's a problem of one fist hitting the other.

[Sue_CT]

Sorry, Worth, I didn't really get that. Must be bit dense today, lol

[worth1]

Sorry, Worth, I didn't really get that. Must be bit dense today, lol

I knew you wouldn't and most people wouldn't not because I think you or others are dull but it's philosophical of the Asian type.
Very hard to explain.
An alligator can't eat it's own tail.
Basically common sense and knowledge and the people that use scare tactics with government food safely can't coexist in the same box.
Thus two fists hitting each other.
You get nowhere.

[karstopography]

I used to want to plant olive trees. I have seen a few olive trees around here. Texas has a very limited commercial Olive production, mainly out west of Austin and San Antonio, the Dripping Springs area is one area. Raw green or ripe off the tree olives are horribly bitter. I tried a few in España once upon a time. How someone way back when figured out olives could be tasty would be an interesting read.

Lately, I have been getting Greek or Californian EVOO for the most part. I have also gotten an unfiltered Sicilian or Spanish version in the past. Extra Virgin Olive oils certainly have different flavors based on regional or varietal differences.

I like extra virgin olive oils that have grassy, herbal and peppery flavors. I can see how someone would want to make a study of Olive Oils and how climate and terroir affect flavor profiles.

[worth1]

Much of the olive oils are a blend of oils or olives from everywhere in the world.
The very best of the oils come from only one tree then one grove then one region and so on.
My favorite oil is a little green but that only comes from the olives being green and nothing else and has a green apple background with a peppery bite on the back of the mouth or throat.
I would never cook with this type of olive oil or would it infuse it with anything.
That would be a waste.
Over 40 years of tasting and using olive oil has made me not an expert but someone that enjoys a good oil.

[Sue_CT]

Sciabica has one they call buttery and mild. I started with that one and quickly moved on as I realized it was not worth buying good olive oil if you were going go for the one with the least amount of flavor. I think of it as being more for those that haven't really developed a taste for olive oil yet, sort of an introductory oil or one that someone could use in a family with some people who don't really care for olive oil. I once took thier olive oils, from mildest to strongest, and placed them on plates with a little salt and pepper and then plain and tasted them with just a good piece of bread for dipping. At the end, the last one was the grocery store variety I had been using. It tasted like cardboard, lol. It was also the last time I ordered their mildest oil.

[worth1]

I can only compare it to certain brands of motor oil.
Years ago and probably still have it Harley Davidson motor oil.
Seriously.
I'm going to pay that kind of money for oil.
I ran Valvoline 20w50 and 60 racing oil for a lot less money.
There comes a time when the brand you buy has nothing to do with the quality of the product.

In my opinion the California olive oil producers did a good job of vilifying the oils from overseas.
Then jacked the price up or justified the price.
The big majority of the tomato products in Italy are grown and turned into a past in China of all places.
They then put a fancy Italian label on the can.
Product of Italy doesn't mean the tomatoes were grown in Italy.
The same with the olive oil.
You have to look closely at the micro fine print.
Even Tabasco sauce the peppers aren't all grown in Louisiana anymore.

I've noticed a huge drop in quality or taste of a well known brand of olive oil in the past few years.

In my opinion if you want a more or less tasteless olive oil save your money and buy peanut oil.
I like sunflower oil too.
Yeah I know they are evil seed oils but what the who.
At least they aren't soybean oil or canola oil.

But it really disturbs me to pay top dollar for olive oil that doesn't have any taste.
The mayonnaise with olive oil is yet another scam if your expecting to get top quality olive oil.
That stuff is almost for sure pumace olive oil.
The leftover mash has been mixed with a chemical solvent to extract the last little bit of oil out.
Then it's heated up to remove the solvent.
I don't have a problem with it but not going to pay top dollar.
Our grocery store has so many different brands of olive oil it boggles the mind.
For all I know they came out of the same barrel.
Right now I'm going the cheap route.
HEB brand extra virgin olive oil.
I've put it up against others and it's the same to me for what I use it for and it does have a taste.
For a lot less money.

[karstopography]

https://www.aceitedelasvaldesas.com/en/ ... or-paises/

The US is a very minor player in the production of olive oil. Tiny Israel, ~8,000 square miles, and even more tiny Palestine, ~2,300 sq miles, each produce more Olive oil than the US, 3.8 million square miles, does.

Most the “bargain” EVOOs these days list multiple countries of origin as the sources of the olives.

Seems like I read there is a significant amount of fraud where olive oil is concerned, with the oil not being as labeled.

We tend to go through more peanut and avocado oil than olive oil. The air fryer is changing the math some, though. Less oil use in general. I now spritz on a wee bit of avocado oil with a dedicated spritz bottle to cook many things in the air fryer. Should ultimately save some $. We’ll still deep or pan fry fish on occasion and peanut oil is our choice for that. Avocado oil is our Air Fryer oil. EVOO comes into the mix for some salad dressings, finishing oil, or italian or Mediterranean type dishes.

[Sue_CT]

Yes there is, Karstopography, which is a good reason to order it directly from an olive grove, if you want to be sure of what you are getting.

[worth1]

That's just the point.
I'm not going to kill the flavor of really good expensive olive oil by masking it with anything else that would take over the flavor.
Could you imagine using a good olive oil to make my habanero oil.
Not likely.
Even to me a garlic flavored or rosemary flavored olive oil from expensive finishing or tasting olive oil would be a waste.
That's the kind of oil you don't heat up in my opinion.
But as always to each their own in these matters.
I think Rachel Ray and some of the other celebrity chefs have been the worst offenders when it comes to olive oil abuse.

I'm totally neutral when it comes to avocado oil.
No opinion whatsoever other than the trees consume a ton of water.
I'm probably just jealous because I can't grow them here.

[worth1]

Yes there is, Karstopography, which is a good reason to order it directly from an olive grove, if you want to be sure of what you are getting.

I've seen a few videos where the Mafia has tried to strong arm growers in other countries to sell them their olives or oil.
One guy got threatened and took up arms I think to protect himself.
It's been awhile.

Looks like something the Mexican cartels could get involved in too.